Speculation: Where Will They Go? (Or Stay?)

[TurgPavs]

Yuck

Agree.
Gotta move forward and hopfully have Thomas, Bolduc, Schenn, up the middle in the next 1-2 seasons.

 

[Blueston]

Agree.
Gotta move forward and hopfully have Thomas, Bolduc, Schenn, up the middle in the next 1-2 seasons.

Considering Bolduc is playing wing in Juniors now, it's unrealistic to expect him to center 2nd line in St. Louis over next couple seasons. Not saying he won't eventually be a center, but if he is even in NHL over next couple years it will almost certainly be on wing at least at first.

 

[tfriede2]

Considering Bolduc is playing wing in Juniors now, it's unrealistic to expect him to center 2nd line in St. Louis over next couple seasons. Not saying he won't eventually be a center, but if he is even in NHL over next couple years it will almost certainly be on wing at least at first.

He’s also missing Bedard in that lineup.
Smith would be a great consolation prize, though.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

He’s also missing Bedard in that lineup.
Smith would be a great consolation prize, though.

Wonder who he slaps first

 

[MissouriMook]

Wonder who he slaps first

The puck. Into the net.

”Keep my puck out of your f***ing slot!!!”

 

[Majorityof1]

To add to the thread, when does everyone think the first domino will drop? What day will we trade our first player? Who will it be?

The trade deadline is less than a month (short month to boot) away. This Friday at 3 will be 3 weeks before the deadline. I think we make our first trade around a weak before, say the 23rd. One of the smaller pieces, like Acciari or Barbashev.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

To add to the thread, when does everyone think the first domino will drop? What day will we trade our first player? Who will it be?

The trade deadline is less than a month (short month to boot) away. This Friday at 3 will be 3 weeks before the deadline. I think we make our first trade around a weak before, say the 23rd. One of the smaller pieces, like Acciari or Barbashev.

I think Barbs or Mikkola is moved first, probably between 10-17 days from now. I don't see Army trading Vladi or RoR until he gets a deal he likes and can further set the UFA value market or until the last week.

 

[Stealth JD]

Tarasenko - Carolina
ROR - Toronto
Barbie - Tampa
Mikkola - Edmonton
Greiss - LAK

 

[GoldenSeal]

I think Army stays pat and lets the players who don't want to be here, walk.

If he does trade, Vladi will go first.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I think Army stays pat and lets the players who don't want to be here, walk.

If he does trade, Vladi will go first.

He's going to trade as many a he can. There's been multiple reports of him Itching to start making movements

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I think Army stays pat and lets the players who don't want to be here, walk.

If he does trade, Vladi will go first.

If Army does that, then I think Stillman will have reached his breaking point and fires Army.

DA is gonna be in self-preservation mode, so trades will happen.

 

[Blueston]

I think Army stays pat and lets the players who don't want to be here, walk.

If he does trade, Vladi will go first.

To miss the playoffs and just let them all walk would be insane. He is not going to hold onto all of them unless he thinks we are contender. And to think that at this point would be even more insane.

 

[GoldenSeal]

To miss the playoffs and just let them all walk would be insane. He is not going to hold onto all of them unless he thinks we are contender. And to think that at this point would be even more insane.

First off let's not forget that Army has let players walk before, including Perron ( circumstances nonwithstanding) but Army seems to be at least a few steps ahead of us and knows things we don't. On that alone, I will trust his logic.

I frankly don't think anyone will be walking and will end up signed. The only one I think may go is Vladi but that's up to him, not Army.

When it comes to how Army operates, we as a fanbase tend to go to the extremes (not you, but in general). Logically trading those players - ROR, Vladi, etc. for assets ( low assets at that since we're essentially trading off rental players who haven't been doing well and that nosedives their value considerably) puts us in a rebuild and he can't have that with the contracts we're carrying. So that's not happening unless Army's strategy is to trade for roster players and picks to fill holes by creating holes. That might be more likely.

I think Army might be big on ROR and might extend him, and Barby is a necessity for us if we expect to compete.

Missing the playoffs is a dagger in our back financially and morale-wise. It has to be worth it and this postseason might be the biggest one of Army's tenure. If he doesn't get it right, the clock on losing his job down the road starts ticking.

Insanity is that we are spent to the cap with a team that can do things and the team has decided to lay down and die. No effort. No energy. No heart. That's a bigger problem than any trade we make and we can't bring in fresh blood if it'll get poisoned by whatever well is in the locker room. I expect Army to fix that first.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

First off let's not forget that Army has let players walk before, including Perron ( circumstances nonwithstanding) but Army seems to be at least a few steps ahead of us and knows things we don't. On that alone, I will trust his logic.

I frankly don't think anyone will be walking and will end up signed. The only one I think may go is Vladi but that's up to him, not Army.

When it comes to how Army operates, we as a fanbase tend to go to the extremes (not you, but in general). Logically trading those players - ROR, Vladi, etc. for assets ( low assets at that since we're essentially trading off rental players who haven't been doing well and that nosedives their value considerably) puts us in a rebuild and he can't have that with the contracts we're carrying. So that's not happening unless Army's strategy is to trade for roster players and picks to fill holes by creating holes. That might be more likely.

I think Army might be big on ROR and might extend him, and Barby is a necessity for us if we expect to compete.

Missing the playoffs is a dagger in our back financially and morale-wise. It has to be worth it and this postseason might be the biggest one of Army's tenure. If he doesn't get it right, the clock on losing his job down the road starts ticking.

Insanity is that we are spent to the cap with a team that can do things and the team has decided to lay down and die. No effort. No energy. No heart. That's a bigger problem than any trade we make and we can't bring in fresh blood if it'll get poisoned by whatever well is in the locker room. I expect Army to fix that first.

When was the last time the Blues were this bad tho? Perron, Schwartz, Backes, and Pietrangelo all walked after seasons we went to the playoffs. We are in completely different circumstances this year with RoR, Vladi, Barbie, Mikkola, Acciari, Leivo, and Griess all UFAs at the end of the season while being a bottom 10 team in the league.

And again. Armstrong wants to make deals. Every reputable source is saying that Army wants to make deals.

Trading away Rentals in a down year is also not full fledged rebuild either. Especially if those players aren't coming back next year.

 

[Blueston]

First off let's not forget that Army has let players walk before, including Perron ( circumstances nonwithstanding) but Army seems to be at least a few steps ahead of us and knows things we don't. On that alone, I will trust his logic.

I frankly don't think anyone will be walking and will end up signed. The only one I think may go is Vladi but that's up to him, not Army.

When it comes to how Army operates, we as a fanbase tend to go to the extremes (not you, but in general). Logically trading those players - ROR, Vladi, etc. for assets ( low assets at that since we're essentially trading off rental players who haven't been doing well and that nosedives their value considerably) puts us in a rebuild and he can't have that with the contracts we're carrying. So that's not happening unless Army's strategy is to trade for roster players and picks to fill holes by creating holes. That might be more likely.

I think Army might be big on ROR and might extend him, and Barby is a necessity for us if we expect to compete.

Missing the playoffs is a dagger in our back financially and morale-wise. It has to be worth it and this postseason might be the biggest one of Army's tenure. If he doesn't get it right, the clock on losing his job down the road starts ticking.

Insanity is that we are spent to the cap with a team that can do things and the team has decided to lay down and die. No effort. No energy. No heart. That's a bigger problem than any trade we make and we can't bring in fresh blood if it'll get poisoned by whatever well is in the locker room. I expect Army to fix that first.

I think you are misreading Army. He has traded off UFAs when he didn’t think we were contender and let them walk when he did (own rentals he calls them). His desire to avoid rebuild is that he doesn’t want us to suck for 5+ years. He thinks we have good core that we can retool around.

This season is basically lost. Next year will be tough, I think he realizes that. But he will add vets where he can to make sure that it doesn’t drag out. Financially we can miss playoffs for a year and not huge thing. 5 years would be. We likely will sign a couple of our UFAs, either before TDL or in summer. I expect one or 2 of our guys on longterm deals will be traded (either now or this summer) to change complexion of team a bit. likely will be changes to coaching staff.

Army isn’t perfect. He has made mistakes. But he is darn good GM and I have confidence he will do what needs to be done to turn this around. And I fully expect ownership to allow him to do so.

 

[Mike Liut]

Tarasenko - Carolina
ROR - Toronto
Barbie - Tampa
Mikkola - Edmonton
Greiss - LAK

not bad. Do we gets 1sts for ROR and Tarasenko? And hopefully a 2nd for Barbie?

I think Barbs or Mikkola is moved first, probably between 10-17 days from now. I don't see Army trading Vladi or RoR until he gets a deal he likes and can further set the UFA value market or until the last week.

i hate waiting and risking injures to them.

 

[LogosBlue]

Sticking by these predictions:

Tarasenko to Rangers for 2023 1st + Kravtsov

ROR to Toronto for 2023 1st & 2nd + salary dump

Barbashev to Boston for 2023 2nd + prospect (Matthew Poitras???)

Acciari to Carolina for a 2nd

Mikkola to Edmonton for a 3rd

 

[tfriede2]

Sticking by these predictions:

Tarasenko to Rangers for 2023 1st + Kravtsov

ROR to Toronto for 2023 1st & 2nd + salary dump

Barbashev to Boston for 2023 2nd + prospect (Matthew Poitras???)

Acciari to Carolina for a 2nd

Mikkola to Edmonton for a 3rd

Wow - lofty predictions there.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

First off let's not forget that Army has let players walk before, including Perron ( circumstances nonwithstanding) but Army seems to be at least a few steps ahead of us and knows things we don't. On that alone, I will trust his logic.

I will buy that he knows things that we don't. I don't think he goes into the locker room 8 games into this season and has a 40-minute heart-to-heart with the players because he's bored, needs to kill time before he tees off at Saint Louis Country Club and wants to gossip with the boys and have a few lulz. He knew something was wrong, to the point he had to go talk to the players about it and make an unequivocal, "I'm not firing the head coach" announcement to them.

Being a few steps ahead, though? That's getting more dubious as we go along.

 

[TruBlu]

DA obviously thinks there will be better offers than what he's received so far closer to the deadline. I'd say when it heats up, about a week out, he'll either get the offer he's wanting or take the best available for both. If it was a case of only one team makes real sense for each respective player I think the deal would already be done. There are multiple locations of interest for both so it makes sense to hold out to see what some GM will cough up as we get closer to the deadline.

 

[Brian39]

Missing the playoffs is a dagger in our back financially and morale-wise. It has to be worth it and this postseason might be the biggest one of Army's tenure. If he doesn't get it right, the clock on losing his job down the road starts ticking.

When was the last time you looked at the standings? We're 9 points back of the final playoff spot and that team has played two fewer games than us. We're 13 points back of the top Wild Card spot with the same number of games played. We're 9 points back of the #9 team in the Conference with the same number of games played and 5 points back of the #10 team who has played 2 fewer games than us. We're 25th in the league by both points, points percentage, and goal differential.

Let's say that we go 7-2-1 in our 10 remaining games before the trade deadline. Great turnaround, especially since the last update on ROR was that he is still in a boot and unable to skate. Colorado goes 4-5-1, Calgary goes 4-6-1, Minnesota goes 5-6-1, Edmonton goes 4-6-1, and Nashville goes 4-5-1. That is an incredible stroke of luck on top of our hot streak. Here's how the standings would look:

C3: Minnesota 69 points in 61 games played
WC1: Edmonton 71 points in 62 games played
WC2: Colorado 67 points in 59 games played

9th: Calgary 67 points in 62 games played
10th: Blues 64 points in 61 games played
11th: Nashville 63 points in 59 games played

A huge hot streak combined with simultaneous cold streaks from five other teams would still leave us several games behind a playoff spot. All five of those teams have won at least 5 of their last 10 games and have season points percentage totals of .551 or better. The odds of all 5 going sub-.500 in the next 3+ weeks are extremely slim. I can't find a single site that puts our playoff chances at or above 10%. Most of them have us well below 5%.

Our low point of the Cup run season was when we found ourselves in last place on January 3rd. We were 9 points out of playoff position, but we had 3-6 games in hand on the teams we were chasing. Things were significantly less dire than they are at the moment. We had twice as much time plus games in hand to bridge the gap. We've played the same or fewer games than every team we are currently chasing.

It is no longer realistic to include making the playoffs this year as a realistic consideration to our asset management.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

When was the last time you looked at the standings? We're 9 points back of the final playoff spot and that team has played two fewer games than us. We're 13 points back of the top Wild Card spot with the same number of games played. We're 9 points back of the #9 team in the Conference with the same number of games played and 5 points back of the #10 team who has played 2 fewer games than us. We're 25th in the league by both points, points percentage, and goal differential.

Let's say that we go 7-2-1 in our 10 remaining games before the trade deadline. Great turnaround, especially since the last update on ROR was that he is still in a boot and unable to skate. Colorado goes 4-5-1, Calgary goes 4-6-1, Minnesota goes 5-6-1, Edmonton goes 4-6-1, and Nashville goes 4-5-1. That is an incredible stroke of luck on top of our hot streak. Here's how the standings would look:

C3: Minnesota 69 points in 61 games played
WC1: Edmonton 71 points in 62 games played
WC2: Colorado 67 points in 59 games played

9th: Calgary 67 points in 62 games played
10th: Blues 64 points in 61 games played
11th: Nashville 63 points in 59 games played

A huge hot streak combined with simultaneous cold streaks from five other teams would still leave us several games behind a playoff spot. All five of those teams have won at least 5 of their last 10 games and have season points percentage totals of .551 or better. The odds of all 5 going sub-.500 in the next 3+ weeks are extremely slim. I can't find a single site that puts our playoff chances at or above 10%. Most of them have us well below 5%.

Our low point of the Cup run season was when we found ourselves in last place on January 3rd. We were 9 points out of playoff position, but we had 3-6 games in hand on the teams we were chasing. Things were significantly less dire than they are at the moment. We had twice as much time plus games in hand to bridge the gap. We've played the same or fewer games than every team we are currently chasing.

It is no longer realistic to include making the playoffs this year as a realistic consideration to our asset management.

I read “postseason “ to mean “offseason” in context there.

 

[Blueston]

I read “postseason “ to mean “offseason” in context there.

that makes much more sense!

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I think Barbs or Mikkola is moved first, probably between 10-17 days from now. I don't see Army trading Vladi or RoR until he gets a deal he likes and can further set the UFA value market or until the last week.

I see you are wrong again....

 

[Majorityof1]

Who had the Rangers for Tarasenko and Mikkola? I thought about the Rangers for Tarasenko, but didn't go with them. Props to whoever called it. Take your bow now.